I was already in my late 20s when the animated original first came out. So what made me decide to collect Mulan "action figures"? A Lifelong Disney Fan I've been collecting toys for almost my entire life. And before Star Wars came along, hijacking both my imagination and my allowance money, there was The Wonderful … Continue reading I’m a Grown Man Who Collected Mulan Figures
This 6" Blade action figure by Toy Biz perfectly captures the first serious cinematic Marvel superhero. Features 18 points of articulation. A Trailblazer for its Time August 21, 1998. The world was a different place then. Columbine hadn't happened yet. Neither had 9/11. Two Ph.D. students founded a startup called Google. And movies based on … Continue reading Blade Action Figure: After All These Years, This Amazing Toy is Still Awesome
Here's why nobody could find any official E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial toys for months after the movie came out, even though everybody wanted one. “It's better than Star Wars!” proclaimed my cousin. He had just seen E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. No way, I thought. That's blasphemy. He continued, “The movie was so good, I even cried. You … Continue reading E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was the Baby Yoda of its Day
These vintage Kenner Star Wars toys captured our imaginations and let us relive "Return of the Jedi" long after the original trilogy ended. The original Star Wars trilogy started when I was a first-grader and came to define my childhood. I collected all the toys. I bought every book I could find—even coloring books. I … Continue reading Top 10 Kenner Toys from “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”
On this 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, here's a look back on five of the iconic vehicles that captured the imaginations of kids everywhere. The 2002 TIE Bomber by Hasbro. No. 5: TIE Bomber The chase through the asteroid field still exhilarates me, even though I know it was just a … Continue reading My Top 5 Fave Toy Vehicles from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Boba Fett will reportedly return in The Mandalorian season 2—but didn’t he get swallowed by the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi? The Original Bounty Hunter Returns Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, will reportedly appear in the second season of The Mandalorian as Boba Fett. … Continue reading Boba Fett Unleashed from the Sarlacc Pit!
This retro TV commercial parody pays homage to Kenner toys and commercials from the 70s and 80s, featuring Order 66 from "Revenge of the Sith." Remember those cheesy TV commercials for Star Wars figures back in the late 70s and early 80s? The voice. The music. The kids recreating scenes from the movies in their … Continue reading What if Kenner Made a Commercial for Star Wars Ep.3/Order 66 Toys Back in the Day?
New to The Clone Wars animated series but don’t have time to watch all 133 episodes before The Mandalorian Season 2? You don’t have to—here’s a list of essential episodes for fans of the live-action Star Wars universe. The Clone Wars animated film hit theaters in 2008, with the series premiering on Cartoon Network later … Continue reading UPDATED: The Only Clone Wars Episodes You Need to Watch
Before Transformers or Voltron, there was Voltes V—the first toy I’d ever seen where vehicles combined and transformed into a giant robot warrior. My introduction to giant robots came by way of Godzilla. One of the only Godzilla toys available in 1970s Ohio was the magnificent 24" beast released as part of Mattel's Shogun Warriors … Continue reading Toy Stories: Voltes V GoDaiKin by Bandai
With these action figures, I can relive the All-Valley Karate Championships of 1984. Over and over. Just like the middle-aged stars of Cobra Kai. T’was the summer of '84. I was ending seventh grade when my English teacher, Mrs. B., handed out a short story published in some Scholastic newsletter. The title of it was … Continue reading Toy Stories: Cobra Kai/The Karate Kid by Remco